Technology

Lawsuit claims denture cream caused mystery illness

Rae Ann Schmaltz, shown in her Bennett home earlier this month, is one of dozens who have filed lawsuits against the manufacturer of Poligrip. She has suffered a loss of feeling in her legs from high amounts of zinc she claims she got from using the denture cream.
( Matt McClain, Special to The Denver Post
)

A Bennett woman who had spent her life as a dancer, athlete and coach was barely into her 40s when she began to lose the use of her legs.

Doctors and specialists spent two years testing Rae Ann Schmaltz, initially believing she had multiple sclerosis but later looking for anything, including tropical diseases and Lou Gehrig's disease. She endured endless poking and prodding, including 160 blood tests, urine tests, MRIs, even spinal taps. All were negative.

And then, prodded by Schmaltz's 19-year-old daughter, they looked in her mouth.

Doctors now believe Schmaltz suffers from a copper deficiency caused by an abundance of zinc found in the Poligrip she used to secure her dentures.

Schmaltz has filed suit against the manufacturer of Poligrip, one of dozens of similar suits filed across the country against denture-cream makers. Though the outcome of the suits is uncertain, suspicion over zinc in denture cream is spawning attorneys' websites such as "denturecreamlawsuitcenter.com" and "youhavea lawyer.com."

According to the suits, zinc used in the denture cream is absorbed by the body. Zinc can cause copper depletion, which can cause neurological damage in extremities.

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The manufacturers have responded that denture cream is safe when used as directed. But attorneys for some of those who believe they have been harmed say there is no warning for users that applying excessive denture cream to hold ill- fitting dentures can cause problems as severe as a loss of feeling in the limbs.

"The implications of this case could be huge," said attorney Shelley Don, who is representing Schmaltz. "There are 15 to 20 million Americans who wear dentures. And nearly all denture adhesives contain zinc."

It was Jan. 17, 2006, when Schmaltz's daughter, Shauna, scrolled through the website Medscape, seeking a possible cause for her mother's ailment, and found three case studies of people with the same symptoms. The common link among them was that all three wore dentures and used adhesives that contained high levels of zinc. Two of them regained partial use of their limbs after ceasing use of the denture adhesives.

She asked her mother, who had never told her she wore dentures. Checking her package of Poligrip adhesive, they could find no warnings, no FDA approval and no list of ingredients.

They called the manufacturer, Block Drug Co., a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline, and were told the list of ingredients was proprietary.

Schmaltz's husband, Robert, who owns a weatherproofing company and is familiar with chemicals, went on the Internet to Material Safety Data Sheets, which are public records of the chemical makeup of all kinds of products. He found that Poligrip contains zinc.

Dr. Mark Treihaft of Swedish Medical Center ran a heavy-metals test on Schmaltz and found an acute deficiency of copper, which is frequently caused by ingestion of zinc and is well-known in the medical community to cause neuropathy, frequently in the farthest extremities such as the feet and lower legs.

The Schmaltzes say they then tested their diets, food supplements, anything they ingested, even their well water, for zinc. Nothing. In the family's mind, it had to be the Poligrip.

Based on medical research conducted in part at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Schmaltz sued GlaxoSmithKline in January 2008.

Schmaltz said doctors told her that her damage was not reversible because it was extensive. Dr. Philip Boyer, a researcher at CU who was part of the team that made the link between denture-adhesive zinc and neuropathy, also said taking too much zinc in supplements could cause nerve damage.

In written answers to the lawsuit, attorneys for GlaxoSmithKline asserted that Poligrip is safe and effective when used as directed and complied with all laws and regulations.

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